DULUTH, Minn. — Cirrus Aircraft has partnered with Lake Superior College to develop an Aircraft Assembly Pre-employment Program. The program is part of a Minnesota Job Skills Program Grant for workforce development and is aimed at recruiting, training and preparing low-income individuals for assembly jobs at Cirrus.

OSHKOSH — During an opening day news conference at AirVenture, officials from Cirrus Aircraft reported that the Vision SF50 personal jet program has made significant progress toward certification, including acquisition of manufacturing equipment to build the new airplane. The company confirms that first delivery is still scheduled for late 2015.

Avidyne Corp. has received a Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) from the FAA for the installation of its DFC90 Digital Autopilot in Cirrus SR20 and SR22 aircraft when interfaced with the Evolution Pro Primary Flight Display (EFD1000 Pro PFD) from Aspen Avionics.

Increasing the certified gross weight to 3,600 pounds increases the flexibility of the airplanes, according to Dale Klapmeier, Cirrus co-founder and CEO. “It’s the most asked for improvement from our customers,” he said.

Several years ago I traveled to Cirrus’ Duluth, Minnesota, plant in the company of the Icon top leaders, including CEO Kirk Hawkins. In those days, Cirrus was seeking info to make decisions about their since-dropped LSA project called the SRS. The Icon fellows were obviously impressed and the trip subsequently paid off.